Luv-A-Duck’s Red Tray range is about meeting consumer need for convenience and dispelling the myth that duck is hard to cook. CEO Daryl Bussell tells Kim Berry how.
Just over 50 years ago, a friendly competition had the unexpected outcome of Luv-A-Duck founder Arthur Shoppee owning a couple of ducks. What started out as a bit of a lark soon became a business, as he started selling them to restaurants.
Today, the business supplies fresh and frozen ducks all over Australia and has developed a range of pre-cooked, heat and serve duck products – its Red Tray range.
CEO Daryl Bussell says one of the biggest challenges for the company is the misconception that duck is difficult to cook. Part of our education process is to help people understand that duck is actually very easy to cook, he says. “It’s not as difficult or scary as people think and it delivers a beautiful flavour that is much stronger than chicken.
“Duck gets compared to chicken a lot because they’re both birds, but the reality is duck meat is more like red meat. You actually cook it with a bit of pink in the middle. We like to think that we’re more like steak or lamb than we are like chicken.”
